Can Roach Spray Kill Bed Bugs? Using The Right Products

Killing roaches is now a very common household chore simply because most homes today are being infested by this pest. In most cases, homeowners are going to use a wide range of insecticides to help them deal with this problem. This is the reason why most households always have a roach spray around.

Unfortunately, roaches are just one of the insects that can cause an infestation at home. Your home can also be invaded by mosquitoes, spiders and even ants. This is why there are many people who want to know if their roach sprays can also work against other insects especially against the pesky bed bugs.

Knowing whether a roach spray can kill bed bugs is important simply because it will help you use the right products. You need to keep in mind that bed bugs are very hard to see and you can easily end up using a product excessively without actually getting any positive results.

What Active Ingredients Are In A Roach Spray?

In most cases, these products contain pesticidal active ingredients that are used to specifically target the nervous system of roaches. Most roach sprays use toxic chemicals that are known to target the nerve cells of the roaches, killing them one by one until the roach suffers from paralysis and ultimately, death.

Products such as Raid roach killers are known to contain pyrethroid as well as allethrin. It can also contain piperonyl butoxide, permethrin as well as the toxic cyfluthrin. Pyrethroid however, is the most commonly used and is a synthetic form of pyrethrin, a natural repellent found in Chrysanthemums.

Fortunately, pyrethrin is also known to have a positive effect against bed bugs, making roach sprays slightly effective against them. The sad part however, is that because it is formulated more as an insect repellent and because bed bugs are very hard to kill, it might be enough to kill them all right away.

What Can Kill Bed Bugs?

While there have been reports that pyrethrin and pyrethroids, might be able to kill some bed bugs, you should know that in most cases, these active ingredients found in roach sprays will at the most, just keep them away from a specific area. This is because many bed bugs are already resistant to them.

Most professionals say that if you want to truly kill these pests in your home, you will need to use products that work specifically against their physiology. Some of the products that exterminators recommend against bed bugs are diatomaceous earth, boric acid as well as other types of desiccants.

These experts will also recommend that you use proper cleaning, heat and vacuuming in order to get rid of the bed bugs in your home. If you want to use insect sprays, you might want to use ones that contain Pyrroles or neonicotinoids which unfortunately, are rarely found even in commercial multi-insect killers.

Can Roach Spray Kill Bed Bugs?

In my opinion, I think the effectiveness of the roach spray against bed bugs will all depend upon the active ingredient that it uses and also on the resistance of the bed bugs that are in your home. You should know that most bed bug products contain pyrethroids and deltamethrin to kill them effectively.

Fortunately, some roach sprays like Raid roach killer do contain pyrethroid and cyfluthrin which is a type of deltamethrin. This means that it might be able to deal with the bed bugs in your home or at the very least, it might be able to help you keep them out of your bed or bedroom even if it is just temporary.

But on the other hand, if the bed bugs in your house are resistant to these chemicals, or if the roach spray does not have the right concentrations of these ingredients, you will never be able kill them or drive them out of your bed no matter how much product you are going to spray on the area.

Conclusion

Since most homes always have a roach spray or two stored just in case roaches decide to make a visit, many homeowners are tempted to use it when other insects are found in the house. This is particularly true whenever people start to find out that bed bugs are infesting their bed, bedroom or furniture.

While in some cases, a roach spray that contain specific active ingredients might be able to kill a few bed bugs, you should know for a fact that these pests are very hardy insects. This is why I think that the most that you can expect whenever you use a roach spray against them is their temporary absence.

I personally do not think that roach sprays can effectively kill bed bugs simply because these products are not formulated to deal with them. While you may use roach sprays if you have no other option as of the moment, I do recommend that you use the right products if you want to kill bed bugs properly.

My name is Emily Taylor, gardening is my passion and I’m looking forward to sharing it with everyone. I know that there are millions of people out there want their backyard and garden be attractive just like their front yard, so I am here to help you create your own backyard paradise.